State of Change
by imdoingthiswhy
Summary: Two new chapters. Both are pure, unadulterated, shameless fluff. It's really complete now. Alexis is home for the holidays, her first extended visit home since she moved into the dorm at Columbia...and since Rick and Kate became a couple. Rick, Kate, and Alexis
1. Chapter 1

State of Change

"Is Alexis home for the holidays yet?" Kate asked as she and Castle stood in his study. His arms were around her waist, and hers were around his neck.

"Yep. Got home this morning," he answered with one of those happy dad smiles Kate now recognized.

"You're looking forward to having her here for a while, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I might be a little concerned that she's outgrown me, though. She's been at college on her own long enough to start thinking my sometimes childish ways are too juvenile for her."

"She's never going to stop enjoying your childish ways. She loves you way too much."

"You sure?"

"I'm thinking it's a pretty sure bet. I'm also thinking I should probably stay away, for at least a few days…give the two of you some time alone. Things have changed a lot for her this fall, and she needs to know you're still her rock…that she can still have your full attention."

"What about me? I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, but we'll see each other at work."

"At work I can't snuggle with you in bed, and I can't do this," he argued, and gave her a long, lingering kiss.

"Mmmmm…." she answered lazily. I'll definitely miss that, but I'm not sure Alexis is all that happy about us yet. Let's give her some time to understand where we are before she has to live with it in the loft. I think I'll just talk to her a minute and head home.

"Do you really think of your apartment as home now?"

"Only when you're in it. These days, home is wherever you are." She stopped and cupped his jaw in her hand, leaning in to kiss him briefly. "Look what you've done to me. I've gone all mushy."

"A proud moment for me." He grinned at her mischievously, and she playfully smacked him in the chest.

"Ow! I don't think Alexis has a problem with us, but if I come out of here with physical injuries, she might." He looked more serious then, and asked, "Is being here with the whole family too much for you? You've stayed when Mother was here. Is it Alexis? Is the whole family thing too much for you?"

"No!" she answered with full certainty. "Your mother is a little over the topand it took some getting used to; but I love opening the door here and finding the love and welcome and joy in life. She's smart and perceptive and knows how to mother me without trying to replace my mother. And your daughter, Rick…your wonderful, amazing daughter. You've told me you don't know how she turned out so well under your watch, but I know how it happened. She's just like you. She's brilliant and talented and generous and perceptive and has a heart of gold…just like her father. And like the rest of the family, she enjoys what she does with her whole self. And just like you and your mother, she'll fight for what's best for her family."

"You really think my studious, organized, reasonable child is like me?" he asked incredulously.

Kate laughed. "Okay, so she handles it differently; but yeah, she's got all your good qualities, and I have no problem at all thinking I'd feel honored if she'd let me into her life. I'd be really proud of that. How do I tell your amazing child, who has had you all to herself for so long, that I need you like I need air to breathe? I don't want her to worry that I'd try to come between you. Do you think she can share you with somebody else who loves you that much?"

"You really love him that much?" they heard from the doorway and turned to find Alexis watching them.

"How long have you been there?" Castle asked.

"Too long," Alexis answered with her head hanging. "I'm sorry."

"Has college taught you it's okay to eavesdrop on personal conversations?" he asked, obviously not happy with her."

"No. And you've taught me it isn't."

"So how long?" he asked again.

"Right before I might not be that happy about the two of you being together yet. I'm sorry."

"Alexis, this isn't like you," Castle started.

"I heard the front door open and thought it would be Grams; but I got to the study, and it was Kate, and you were talking about me, and…"

"I think I understand," Kate said, looking at Castle. "Maybe this time you could let it slide? I remember coming home from Stanford expecting things to be just like I left them, but Mom and Dad had just had almost four months all to themselves. They were clingier, seemed closer than before. When I was home, I knew almost all the little jokes between them because I was there to share them; but when I got home for the Christmas holidays, they had new ones that I wasn't part of. They'd bought a few new things that I didn't recognize. Cases they talked about were all new. It felt like home, but it was different. It was hard to assimilate that while I was off getting a new life started for myself, they were home having to do the same thing. Alexis is in the middle of that now. That conversation was probably important to her."

"Thanks, Kate, but I'm still sorry I eavesdropped. I guess you're kind of right. I know the two of you have been spending a lot more time together. Maybe I'm feeling a little on the outside."

Without even communicating outwardly, both Rick and Kate held out an arm to invite Alexis in. Rick pulled her head to his shoulder, and Kate's put an arm around her waist and her head went to his other shoulder.

"I want Kate to be part of our family, Pumpkin. Do you think you can come to terms with that?"

"Dad, I can see how much you love each other. My opinion shouldn't matter."

"But it does," he assured her. "We'd like to have your blessings."

"You have my blessings…in theory. It's going to take a little time to get used to seeing all this, though. Definitely new and different."

"If you're not comfortable with us together, we'll figure something out while you're home." Kate offered. "Just be honest with me, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm gonna go now." Kate turned her attention to Castle again. "See you in the morning?"

"Yeah. You gonna pick me up?"

"Sure."

Alexis hugged Kate and said, "Thanks for understanding."

"I'm not too old to remember…not yet anyway," Kate assured her with a smile. "If anything about this worries you or bothers you, talk to me, understand?"

"I will." Alexis hesitated a moment. "Did you really mean all those things you said about me…that you'd be proud of me?"

"Of course I did."

"I like that you can see that Dad did a good job with me, and I like that you think I'm like him. He needed to know that."

"Did you know that one of the first things that attracted some respect from me was the way he talked about you? It was the first time I saw past the façade. Fatherhood looked good on him."

"Alright, child. Kate insists on leaving; so, unless you want to watch some serious good-bye kissing, you should go now."

"Eeew! I'm going. I'm going," Alexis said, chuckling her way out of the room.

After she was out of sight, Castle took Kate in his arms, and they spent enough time saying good-bye to hold them until she picked him up the next morning.

Alexis walked to the door with them as Kate was leaving. "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll be proud of you, too." She gave Kate a hug before she opened the door.

As the door opened, Rick took Kate's hand and kissed the back of it. "Until tomorrow, Detective."

Kate smiled and gave him a quick kiss before leaving, clearing the evening for some needed dad/daughter time…and feeling hopeful that the three of them would eventually feel like a real family.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It had been two days since they had spent more than a couple of hours together at the loft, and Kate missed her partner. She had picked him up for work both mornings, and they spent a little time making out in the car in the parking garage for his building before they left, but it wasn't the same as waking up with him all warm and sleepy and comfortable beside her…or often wrapped around her.

It was now Saturday morning, and she had the day off, so she wasn't dressed yet; she was taking her time about getting anything done until she had fully enjoyed her coffee and a decent breakfast. She smiled to herself. Castle would be proud. She had a decent breakfast in front of her, and he wasn't even there to push her about it. Of course, it was to make up for the fact that most of yesterday's nutrition had been coffee and M&M's or crackers from the snack machine at the precinct, but he didn't need to know that.

Just as she was finishing her breakfast, there was a knock at the door. She checked through the peephole, and it was Alexis.

"Hi," she said, opening the door for her guest and hoping for something good to come of this visit. "Come in."

"Hi, Kate. I came to see if you might want to help us decorate the loft tonight. Dad's getting out all the boxes. I'm supposed to be at the grocery store getting cookie making supplies."

"So he doesn't know you're here? He didn't send you?"

"No. I came on my own. He misses you a lot, and I know he wants you with him. I think you miss him a lot, too."

Kate looked down, doing her best not to growl loudly, 'Oh, God, yes, I miss him.'

"Do you have something else planned?"

"No."

"Then will you come? It takes us all day…sometimes into the next day. He's a bigger kid than I am…plays Christmas carols while we work, throws flour at me while we cook, has to play with the train under the tree before we can finish decorating…"

"And you love every minute of it, don't you?"

"Yeah," Alexis grinned. "You do, too, don't you?"

"I haven't been there for Christmas, but I've been on the receiving end of a few flour flips."

"And what did you do?"

"Are you kidding? I flipped back," she answered with a grin. "He should know better than to mess with a cop."

"Then you should have no trouble coping with Richard Castle at Christmas. Come on. You can help me with the cookie shopping. We'll surprise him."

"You're sure you want me there?"

"I'm sure. He'll be so happy to see you…and I need to get used to seeing you _together _together. If he has anything to do with it, you're probably going to be there forever, and I can't think of anybody I'd rather see him with. I think I was just feeling a little insecure about where I fit in now."

"Honey, you fit right where you always did. I don't want to change that. If it works for you, though, now you have both of us when you need us."

"I've known for a while that you'd be there if I needed you. I just didn't have to share my dad with you then. You really love him as much as you said?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Okay, then. Let's go buy cookie stuff and get back to him."

"Give me about five minutes. I'll go get dressed." Stopping as she walked toward her bedroom, Kate asked, "How did you get here? Should I drive us back?"

"We can get a cab to the store. It's close enough to walk from there."

"Okay. Be right back."

They picked up everything on Alexis' list and a couple of things Kate questioned if they had and they bought just in case.

When they got to the loft, Castle impatiently met Alexis at the door. "I didn't think you'd ever get back. Was the line at the grocer's that long?"

"Look who I found while I was out," Alexis answered, moving so he could see Kate holding the second bag of groceries.

"Oh, wow! Best find ever!" he said with a grin. "Where did you find her?"

"At her apartment. I invited her to help us decorate. I figured she's had over four years to figure out how goofy you're likely to get."

"You went to get her? Thank you," he answered, kissing his daughter on the head; then he took both grocery bags from the two women, put them on the counter, and pulled Kate in for a big hug and a quick kiss."

"So where do we start?" Kate asked, looking at the huge stack of boxes and wondering where he kept them the rest of the year. "Looks like it could take all day to decorate that humongous tree."

"It usually does," Alexis chimed in as she put the butter and eggs in the refrigerator. "Most of it, anyway. "Then we decorate everything else."

"When was the last time you decorated for Christmas, Kate?" Rick asked softly.

She looked down and hesitated before she answered. "When I was nineteen. After that…"

"Are you okay with all this?"

"Yeah. I'm actually looking forward to it."

He smiled and kissed her forehead, then started moving boxes. "Let's find the tree decorations. The boxes are all labeled."

A number of boxes later, Kate asked in disbelief, "All this goes on the tree?"

"Yep," Alexis answered. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Kate laughed as Castle enthusiastically opened all the boxes looking for the star for the top of the tree. As he found things, he played, wrapping tinsel garland around Alexis' neck, as if it were a feather boa, tying a piece in a bow around Kate's pony tail, making the super hero ornaments fly… About forty-five minutes later, with not an ornament yet on the tree, Kate laughingly asked Alexis, "So what was it like growing up with Peter Pan as your father?"

"It was great," she answered and kissed his cheek.

"It's not bad having Peter Pan as a partner, either."

Castle leaned his other cheek toward Kate, and she kissed that one.

"I have an idea," he said suddenly. "Why don't we call Tinkerbell and Wendy and the Lost Boys and have a decorating party. We can order food later. What do you think, Pumpkin?"

"Dr. Parish, and the guys?"

"And Ryan's wife, Jenny."

"Why not? We might get this done faster."

"Faster? You _have_ met the Lost Boys, haven't you?" Kate asked Alexis pointedly.

"Well with four more pairs of hands, at least it might not go any slower," Alexis speculated. "Go ahead and call them, Dad."

Castle went to the study to get his phone, and they heard him animatedly talking to Esposito, who said he was already with Lanie and he'd call Ryan.

Martha got home about the time they had emptied one box and had actually hung those ornaments on the tree.

"Oh, good Lord," she exclaimed. "He's decorating. If I had known, I'd have found something to do for a few more hours. Kate, you poor darling, how did he rope you into this?"

Kate laughed, obviously having fun, and her partner couldn't have been happier.

By the time the rest of the party got there, Castle had insisted on getting out the train to show Kate the cars and the village they put up with it. The two of them were sitting cross-legged on the floor with Alexis, laughing over various Christmas mishaps involving the train while Martha answered the door.

"Beckett?" Esposito exclaimed.

"Hey guys."

"What have you done to my girl, Castle?" Lanie asked in amusement. "'Cause I think I see Kate Beckett sitting on the floor laughing and playing trains with a tinsel bow in her hair. Have you let this woman get too deep in the eggnog?"

"Hey, Ryan. Look at that train set." Javi seemed fascinated. "Did you have one of those when you were a kid?"

"My brothers and I had one together. You?"

"Nope. Always wanted one, though." He plopped down on the floor with the three already there. "How much of this stuff have you got?" he asked in amazement.

"He has a partner in this train stuff. We've lost him for a while," Alexis told Kate. "We might as well start the cookies. Grams always helps with that. We can drag Jenny and Dr. Parish in with us. There are plenty of bowls and spoons in this kitchen."

They got out the recipes and ingredients, and the women gathered around to decide who would do what while Ryan joined the other boys on the floor with the trains. They occasionally heard comments like, "So cool." "Dude, did you see this?" "I didn't even know they made these." "Oh, wait, you've got to see this one."

Lanie looked at them with one hand on her hip. "Well, isn't this your typical holiday gathering? The men are over there playing, and we're all in the kitchen."

"Give them half an hour." Alexis answered wisely. "By then we'll have all the cookie dough made, and as penance, they can watch the clock and get them in and out of the oven. And trust me, we'll get it done a lot faster without Dad in the kitchen." They all laughed, then got busy.

About twenty minutes into the cookie project, Kate and Alexis were putting sugar cookie dough in the refrigerator and starting a new recipe. When the flour was being measured, Alexis got an evil gleam in her eye and threw some flour at Kate. "Hey, it's a Castle tradition," she explained.

"Didn't we discuss just this morning that you don't mess with a cop? This is so on, kid," she laughed giving back a little more than she received.

Alexis squealed and ran to the other side of the counter, flinging flour behind her and ducking below counter height to avoid the next puff of white dust from Kate's direction.

At Alexis' squeal, the men looked up, and Esposito laughed. "Yo, Castle. Looks like your women are having a food fight."

"It's a flour fight, and they started without me," he answered. Trains forgotten, for the moment, he headed for the kitchen as he watched Alexis sneaking around the counter to get Kate from behind.

Martha, Lanie, and Jenny had cleared the kitchen and were watching from across the room.

"Do they do this kind of thing often?" Jenny asked Martha.

"Yes," Martha drawled. "And it looks like they've corrupted Kate. It usually doesn't last long, and they're very good about cleaning up after themselves. It's best to just stand back until it's over."

Ryan and Esposito stood up and looked at one another, wondering if they should laugh or not and decided they couldn't help it. Detective Kate Beckett was stalking an eighteen year old around the kitchen counter with flour in her hair and on her face, and a handful of it ready to assault her teenaged prey.

Castle reached across the counter to arm himself to meet them and sneaked around the counter to surprise Alexis as she suddenly stood and grabbed more flour to attack Kate again. Kate, catching the movement, turned to throw her flour at Alexis and got Castle instead, so Alexis threw hers at him, too. With both hands full, he took advantage of being between them, gave a victorious shout, grabbed both of them around their necks with his arms and rubbed flour over their faces, then kissed both of them on their heads.

By then everybody in the room was laughing at the spectacle and the three in the kitchen were trying to dust themselves off.

"Now they'll all clean up and behave like sane people again," Martha announced. "And we can safely get back to cookie making. Can I get you something to drink while that happens?"

"Sure. Is it safe to walk in there?"

"I think the path to the fridge is relatively unscathed," Martha answered, looking resigned. "Be right back." She returned with wine glasses and a bottle of wine. "Have a seat," she said to the other four. "Might as well be comfortable while they pull themselves back together."

Castle brushed at Alexis' pony tail, and most of the flour came out.

"It might have been more fun with three of us," Alexis said with a grin, and Castle couldn't stop smiling.

He turned to Kate and helped her get most of the flour off her face, too. She brushed at his shirt, but only succeeded in smearing what was there.

"Go get some clean clothes, Pumpkin," he said to Alexis. "We need to get back to work." Taking Kate's hand, he said, "Looks like the jeans can be saved. Come on. I'll find you a T-shirt."

A few minutes later, Kate returned wearing one of Castle's long-sleeved T-shirts with the sleeves pushed up. Martha held out a glass of wine. "It seems you've been initiated into the family Christmas tradition. I was hoping you'd help calm them down."

"What fun would that be?" Kate asked.

"Honey, that man is sooo good for you," Lanie answered.

"I don't know if we can ever take you seriously again," Ryan joked.

Castle came back in a clean shirt, and carefully put the parts of the train set in its box, moving it out of the way. "Let's see if we can empty a couple of boxes of decorations and get them on the tree, then we'll order food. Maybe somebody could get some cookies in the oven for while we're working…and Alexis makes great hot chocolate.

"You guys don't have ornament fights, do you?" Lanie asked. "'Cause if that happens, I'm going home."

"You're safe Dr. Parish, Alexis answered, smiling as she came back down the stairs sans decorative flour. "We don't throw things more dangerous than flour."

"Good to know," Lanie answered.

Ryan was still grinning at the whole idea, and Jenny looked at him sternly. "Don't even think about trying that at home, Kevin Ryan."

"Yes ma'am."

"Getting the dust mop, Dad. You get everybody started on the tree. Want to throw your shirt in the dryer, Kate? Most of it comes out that way."

"You guys have this down to a science, don't you?" Kate answered.

"Yeah. Did you have fun?" Alexis asked as she pushed the mop across the floor, clearing a wide swath of flour dust.

"Yeah. I can't believe I did that, but it was fun. Thanks for inviting me."

"I've got this. Why don't you help Dad with the tree? I'll be there in a minute."

After emptying two boxes, Castle ordered food. "That's a lot of food," Kate whispered.

"It's okay. I have a lot of money," Castle whispered back and bumped her shoulder with his.

By the time the third box was emptied, the food had arrived, and they took it to the now flourless dining table and talked and laughed as they ate.

"Thanks for all the help," Castle said to everybody in general.

"I wasn't sure about spending the day decorating a Christmas tree, but it was fun," Esposito admitted. "A little unorthodox in the cookie making department, but entertaining. Good blackmail material," he said with a grin.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want, but don't feel obligated to do any more. I don't think we've ever gotten this much done in one afternoon."

"No way, man. I'm staying until that train is set up under the tree," Esposito said.

"How many more boxes until we get there?" Ryan asked. "I'd kinda like to see that, too."

"Two more. One is smaller than the others. That one's mine. Alexis ornaments, starting from Christmas number one. Some were bought for her. Some she made, or we made together."

"Dad, you're not going to show them all that stuff, are you?"

"I want to see," Lanie said with a smile. "I want to see what my sensible, efficient, reliable, older than her years intern produced when she was little."

"Fine. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't have to tell the stories over and over." She rolled her eyes at the thought.

"Don't worry, darling. There are a few on the tree already that date back to your father's younger days. If he gets out of hand, I have a few stories of my own."

"Thanks, Grams."

After dinner, they emptied the last couple of boxes. Kate noticed that Castle removed a few things and inconspicuously put them in one of the empty boxes, but he seemed so intent on doing it when no one was looking that she knew there must be a reason. Other than that, his philosophy seemed to be 'If it's here, it goes on the tree.' She tucked that away in her mind and saved it to ask about later.

Around dark, they finally got around to setting up the train and a little village for it to run through under the tree. Kate, Alexis, and all the men were on their stomachs on the floor watching it. Alexis put a handful of cookies in a couple of open cars, and before they turned it off, they stopped it to retrieve the cookies and nibbled as they watched for another couple of minutes.

"Kate and Castle and Alexis...they'll make a good family, won't they?" Jenny whispered to Martha as the other three women stood watching the pseudo-adults on the floor.

"They haven't figured out yet that they already are, but today might do it," she whispered back. "I think all of you are part of it, too."

"Today was almost like being home for Christmas," Lanie answered. This place has that good family vibe."

"My son has made his mistakes, but he's a good man. Family is what he's always wanted most, and he holds it close. I've made my mistakes, too, but I must have somehow done something right. I didn't ruin him completely." She put an arm around the shoulders of the women on each side of her, and smiled. "I'm glad all of you were here today. You're welcome any time."

The group in the floor turned off the train set and got up to stand and admire the tree with the others. "We did good," Esposito said, and he and Ryan fed the birds.

Castle had an arm draped across Kate's and Alexis' shoulders and had both of them tucked to his sides. "Yeah, we did. I don't know about everybody else, but I'm ready to sit down for a while. We have a ton of Christmas movies."

"Nah. I think we'll go sit down at home," Ryan answered. "Want some help putting those boxes away?"

"No. We can do that tomorrow."

"Then I think I'll head home, too," Javi said. "Ready, chica?"

"Just need to remember where I left my purse," Lanie answered"

"I think it's next to the door of the study, Dr. Parish," Alexis told her.

"Thanks, hon," Lanie answered. Retrieving the purse and turning to Esposito, she said, "Now I'm ready."

Everyone said their goodbyes, then Castle walked them to the door and thanked them again for all the help; and they all went home, leaving Rick's family and Kate.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Christmas movie, ladies?" Castle asked.

"Sounds good to me. After that we'll take care of the rest of the cookie stuff," Kate answered.

"I've enjoyed today," Martha answered, "but I'm exhausted. I'm going to my room, and I plan to read until I fall asleep. Goodnight, children." She gave them one of her dramatic little waves as she turned to walk up the stairs.

There was a chorus of various goodnights behind Martha before Alexis pulled a Christmas movie out of the cabinet.

"Is this one okay with you, Kate?"

"I love this one. It always felt good to see Scrooge turn himself around."

"I like Marley and his chains," Rick answered

"Why are we not surprised?" Alexis observed dryly as she put the DVD in and came back to plop down on the sofa where Kate was already sitting.

Castle sandwiched his way between the two of them, wiggled them far enough apart to make himself comfortable, and took charge of the remote.

"Do we prop our feet on the table here?" Kate asked.

"Only in sock feet…no shoes," Alexis answered.

"She's been well trained," Castle told her, looking smug.

"I could see that from the flour encounter," Kate answered with a smirk.

"She got you there, Dad," Alexis chuckled.

While Castle fast forwarded through all the warnings and previews, they all toed off their shoes, propped their feet on the coffee table, and settled back for the movie. As time passed, first Kate and then Alexis pulled their legs up on the sofa and leaned closer to Castle. He eventually ended up with one arm wrapped around each of them, feeling gloriously content. Kate's head was on his shoulder, her cheek high on his chest, and Alexis had her back leaned against his other side, the back of her head on his shoulder.

Around the time they got to the scene where Scrooge woke up the next morning, Castle looked down at Kate and silently mouthed, "I love you." She returned his message the same way, and he leaned his head to give her a soft, slow kiss on her lips.

They were interrupted with, "Hey, guys. Kid still here. Not even asleep."

"The joys of parenthood," he said to Kate, and turned to plant several loud, smacking kisses on Alexis' head and the side of her face.

"Eeew, Dad! That was a lot funnier when I was in elementary school. Now it just feels like you're about to slobber on me."

"Such a lovely picture," he answered. "You wanted us to notice you, so I did. Can't make you happy, can I?" He trapped her with his arm and gave her two more of the loud, sloppy sounding kisses as she tried to wiggle away and made disgusted noises but laughed at the same time.

She and Kate chuckled at his foolishness. The movie came to its happy conclusion, and they got up to take care of the rest of the cookie residue in the kitchen.

"It's getting late. I should go," Kate told them after drying her hands. "I'll take my shirt home and throw it in my own dryer before it gets washed with everything else."

"I'll go get that shirt for you," Castle offered and went into his room to retrieve it.

"Kate?" Alexis started quietly, seeming hesitant.

"What?" Kate answered.

"I'm pretty sure you've been spending a lot of time here with Dad. I saw him taking hangers from the laundry room into his room…a pair of jeans too small to be his and a couple of shirts I've seen you wear. He probably has clothes at your place, too, now, right?"

Kate just nodded, not sure where all this was going. "We weren't trying to hide anything from you, honey. There's just a vast difference in knowing something somewhere in the back of your mind and seeing even the edges of it right in front of you. I didn't want to make you feel…" She stopped and took a deep breath. "If it were my dad, even now, I'd still have a little trouble with it, too."

"Really?"

"Really." Kate nodded.

"It's going to take some getting used to, and it's going to feel awkward at first; but stay here when you want to. If you've missed my dad even half as much as I know he's missed you, I don't want to be the reason for that kind of misery. I've never seen him really in love, but he is now; and I want him to be happy. He's happy with you. I know this is something he's committed to, whether you're married or not." She stopped, seeming hesitant again. "Do you think you're ready to act like a step-mother to a college student?"

Kate nodded slowly. "Are you ready to act like you could see me that way?"

Alexis nodded, too. "Today was great. You loved all his silliness, didn't you? Gina was always after him to grow up."

"Yeah. I loved all yours, too. Need I remind you who threw the first flour?" She rolled her eyes and threw her hands up toward her shoulders. "I can't believe I behaved that way in front of everybody. They'll never let me live it down."

"Is that so terrible? They enjoyed it, too," Castle said as he returned with Kate's flour dusted shirt in a plastic bag.

"There was a time I would have let it bother me, but now isn't it. Monday morning, maybe…but, then again, maybe not. You may have cured me."

"Oh, I hope so, Detective," he answered and kissed her cheek before handing her the bagged shirt.

"Why don't you stay here the rest of the weekend, Kate? I have to get used to you two being together. I might as well start now. There are at least a hundred more Christmas movies in there, and more decorating to do…and we never touched the sugar cookies after the dough went in the fridge. We still have those to bake and decorate, and the rest of the others to bake, and…"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. We'll make breakfast together and figure out everything else from there."

"Ground rules, honey," Castle told Alexis. "We promise to remember where we are and who else may be in the house. You promise that, if you walk in on something that threatens to make any of us uncomfortable, you won't just stand there…or run. Clear your throat or find some way to let us know you're there. None of us want to be embarrassed…or to embarrass anyone else. And no more eavesdropping on personal conversations, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

He put an arm around his daughter. "You haven't said that since you were about twelve…except for a couple of extreme circumstances."

"I have to make you feel like you're in charge now and then," she answered mischievously. "I'm going to bed now.

He gave Alexis a big hug and said softly "Thank you for bringing Kate home. I couldn't have a better child."

She gave him a kiss on his cheek and gave Kate a quick hug. "Goodnight."

Castle waited until Alexis' door closed, then he took Kate's hand, pulled her into the study, closed the door, and kissed her as if he hadn't seen her in months.

"Shower and bed?" she asked.

"Bed then shower? he bargained.

"That works, too. I feel like it's been weeks."

"It hasn't?" he asked as he pulled her/his shirt over her head.

She hooked a finger through one of his belt loops and pulled him through the bedroom door. When he closed the door behind them, the clothes were gone in short order, and they slipped between the soft sheets and did their best to make up for the time they hadn't spent together in the last couple of days.

Later, as they held each other, catching their breath, he said, "I like having you here. I want you here all the time."

"You don't think it's too soon for that?"

"No. You love me, right?"

"Right." She gave him a quick kiss.

"I love you. My mother loves you. My daughter is realizing she loves you. You belong here with us. At least think about it?"

"I'll think about it, but I've been on my own for a long time."

"Does that make you happy now?"

"I have to admit, it's nice coming home to a family after work."

"So we're growing on you?"

"Yeah, you are…especially the man of the house," she answered, turning to snuggle against him.

"You had fun today," he said…more a statement than a question, and he drew her closer in his arms.

She nodded against his chest.

"We'll have fun tomorrow, too."

"What about the flour?" she asked warily.

"Castle tradition provides for only one real flour fight per season. Mother is always glad when it's over."

"Good," she answered with a little smirk. "We might run out of clean clothes." She was quiet for a moment, then asked, "There are only three of you. What do you do with all those cookies, anyway? You can't possibly eat them all."

"They go to the doorman, the drivers for the car service…people who provide services for us. They get a card with a Christmas tip, but we add the cookies in a nice tin…kind of doing something for them that takes a little time and effort from us. I'm sure they'd rather have the money, but it's fun to do it, anyway. Alexis and I have been doing that together since she was about four and I had to stand her on a chair so she could reach the counter with the cookie cutters." Then he was quiet for a moment. "She looked happy working with you and the others. She started the flour thing with you when I wasn't even in the room. I never expected that…it's one of _our_ traditions. And she invited you to stay. I think you're in."

"I do feel better about that now."

"Why did you hide some of the ornaments when nobody was looking?

"Apparently somebody was watching."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Those were things I bought with Meredith and Gina. I intended to gradually tell you what's behind those ornaments, and ex-wives aren't what I wanted to talk about for our first Christmas together, but you can ask me anything you need to know. You must have questions."

"They've waited this long. They can wait a little longer. There must have been some good times to remember. It's part of your life, Rick. If some of those ornaments are special memories, put them on the tree."

"None of them were that special. We'll go shopping sometime this week and find one to remind us of today."

"We should take Alexis, too."

"I love you, Kate."

"Love you, too."

Snuggling as close as they could manage, they gradually drifted off to sleep.

xxxxx

The next morning, the three of them made breakfast, and Martha came downstairs just as they finished putting it on the table. The day was slow and quiet and easy. Cookies were baked and decorated.

More house decorating was done, prompting Kate to ask, "The bathrooms, too? Really, Castle?"

"Yep. Boba Fett has his own scarf and Santa hat." There was laughter and eye rolling, but she obviously loved his humor.

Castle had a fire burning in the fireplace, making the room warm and cozy; and later, there were snacks as they watched more Christmas movies…all of them nearly asleep at the end of the third one.

"Let's call it a night," Castle suggested as he took the remote and turned off the movie.

There were sounds of agreement from the others, followed by goodnights as everyone wandered off to their own rooms, tired but happy.

When Castle and Kate got ready for work on Monday morning, they had a little extra time, so they packed several containers with cookies for everyone who had been there helping on Saturday…and as an afterthought, one for Gates.

They stopped by to leave one for Lanie, then delivered the ones for the boys and Jenny, telling Ryan to be sure she got all of them. Then they stopped at Gates' door and asked if she had a minute, and she looked up from the file she was reading to motion them in.

"We brought you some of our Christmas cheer," Castle said, holding out the tin.

"Castle had the team over on Saturday for an impromptu tree decorating party, along with Lanie Parish and Ryan's wife. We all had a hand in the cookie making and thought we'd share."

"There's a lot of laughter and fun in those cookies," Castle pointed out. "Maybe they'll take the edge off some of those files."

"I must admit that when you said 'our Christmas cheer' I was hoping you had come in to finally tell me that you've been seeing each other for a few months now. But cookies are good, too. Thank you for thinking of me."

Castle and Beckett looked at one another in surprise. "You've known all this time?" Beckett asked.

"I was the youngest female on the force to make detective…until you, Detective Beckett. I didn't get there by being obtuse."

"What do you intend to do?" Beckett asked.

"I decided your punishment would be letting you try to hide it from a bullpen full of detectives and a herd of entertainment reporters. There's been some speculation here, but you've actually been relatively successful." She was obviously enjoying seeing them squirm. "As much as I hate to admit it, Mr. Castle has been helpful in a number of cases. He's an unpaid civilian, and there are jurisdictional questions because of that. As long as I don't see overt evidence of your relationship here or in any place connected to your work, and as long as your work doesn't suffer because of it, my Christmas cheer for you is that I'll do nothing unless it becomes an issue. I suspect that there will be a short burst of media attention when it becomes more public, and I will expect help with that, Mr. Castle."

"Yes, Sir. Whatever you need."

She held up the cookies and said, "Thank you. Now go solve something. Don't make me regret this."

"We won't. Thank you, Captain." Beckett answered. They left as quickly as possible, as if she might change her mind if they stayed too long.

"We are so going out for a nice dinner somewhere tonight. "We're going to dress up and look like a couple in public."

Beckett smiled and answered, "Okay."

Ryan and Esposito met them at Beckett's desk, and Ryan handed her a small page with an address. "Hey, Beckett, we got a body."

Looking back and forth between Beckett and Castle, both of whom were simultaneously smiling and looking shell shocked, Esposito asked, "Are you guys okay?"

"Life is good," Castle answered. "Life is good."

"Come on," Beckett told them, grabbing her coat from her chair. "Let's go solve something."


End file.
